- Regional Lineman's Rodeo events test job skills critical to
power delivery and restoration
- International Rodeo competition featuring the world's top
lineworkers to be held Oct. 19 in
Bonner Springs, Kan.
ST.
PETERSBURG, Fla., March 5,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- At a competition powered by
skill and packed with competitors, 15 Duke Energy Florida
lineworkers secured spots over the weekend to compete among the
most elite lineworkers in the world this fall at the International
Lineman's Rodeo.
Duke Energy's Florida Lineman's
Rodeo in Winter Garden was one of
three regional Lineman's Rodeos that will take place this spring
across Duke Energy's service areas, displaying the talent and
skills of the company's dedicated lineworkers. Lineman's rodeos are
specialized contests that test job-related skills line technicians
rely on daily to restore power day and night – often in
unpredictable outdoor conditions. Events take place on de-energized
equipment in a simulated environment, but participants are scored
based on simulations of on-the-job work, with deductions for
mistakes. Competitors are judged on efficiency, agility, technique
and safety procedures.
Categories scored included equipment repair, pole climbs and
hurt man rescues. Duke Energy holds three regional competitions to
qualify lineworkers for the international competition – including
in the Carolinas, Florida and the Midwest.
The Florida rodeo this year included one senior team, 11
journeyman teams and nearly 80 apprentices. Team divisions are
based in part on tenure. An apprentice is a lineworker with less
than four years of utility experience. A journeyman or senior
journeyman with Duke Energy has more than four years of utility
experience. The senior division in a Lineman's Rodeo denotes
lineworkers who are 50 years old or older.
"Our customers and communities depend on us to keep the power
flowing 24/7, 365 days a year," said Barry
Anderson, Duke Energy Florida senior vice president of
customer delivery. "We participate in these rodeo competitions to
not only sharpen our skills as lineworkers, but to make sure we are
working at the highest level of safety, integrity and service for
our customers and our peers."
Elevated expertise
Duke Energy Florida regional rodeo winners will join other top
lineworkers from Duke Energy rodeos in Florida and the Midwest to compete in the
International Lineman's Rodeo in Bonner
Springs, Kan., on Oct. 19, an
international event that attracts the most talented lineworkers
from around the world. The best lineworkers at Duke Energy and its
legacy companies have showcased their talents at the International
Lineman's Rodeo for more than two decades.
"I got into line work just because of my love of the outdoors,
helping people and turning the lights on," said Eric Polous, Duke Energy Florida lineworker from
the Odena Operations Center. "It was a great competition. We came
down here and we never competed together. We grew together as a
team and won third place. We are going to Kansas, and we are excited to go."
Duke Energy Florida competitors advancing from regional rodeos
to the International Lineman's Rodeo include:
Apprentice Overall Awards
- First place – Alejandro Guillen,
St. Petersburg, Fla.
- Second place – Steele Conlin, Longwood, Fla.
- Third place – Tyler Farmer,
Longwood, Fla.
Journeyman Overall Awards
- First place – Brandon Bagley,
Buena Vista, Fla.
Zachary Bichard, Buena Vista,
Fla.
Ivan White, Buena Vista, Fla.
- Second place – Steven J.
Goepfert, Dunnellon,
Fla.
Lars Graylin
Langlo, Inverness, Fla.
Kyle
Metz, Brooksville,
Fla.
- Third place – Justin Mathes,
Crawfordville, Fla.
Eric Polous, Odena,
Fla.
Tim West, Odena,
Fla.
Journeyman Senior Overall Awards
- First place – Chet Braden,
Walsingham, Fla.
Ed Filor, Inverness,
Fla.
Henry Shupe, Seven Springs,
Fla.
"For me, it's extremely rewarding to be able to do this in front
of my children and family. To be able to pay back to all the
volunteers and everybody who put in for a good day at the rodeo,"
said Ivan White, Duke Energy Florida
lineworker and lead health & safety professional.
Duke Energy employs nearly 1,000 lineworkers across its Florida
service area.
The Florida Lineman's Rodeo was supported by volunteers and
vendors from across the Duke Energy community. A record-breaking
number of more than 50 vendors also supported this year's event and
more than 80 volunteer students from four colleges including
St. Petersburg College, South Florida
State College, Valencia College and
Northwest Lineman College attended the event and had the
opportunity to meet and speak with Duke Energy leadership.
"It's a good time with good friends, good family and just a
great opportunity to show off our trade," said Zachary Bichard, Duke Energy Florida lineworker
from the Buena Vista Operations Center.
Powering the future grid
Lineworkers play a key role in power grid improvement projects
that help modernize and strengthen Duke Energy's system against
storms and other impacts, making it more reliable and resilient.
This can include work to upgrade lines and poles, underground
outage-prone lines where data indicates it makes sense to do so,
and enhancing grid reliability through the integration of smart,
self-healing technology – which saved more than 35 million
minutes of total lost outage time last year in Florida.
Hiring and developing entry-level craft and skilled talent is
critical to address the growing needs of residential and
non-residential customers, as well as to deploy a cleaner, diverse
energy mix to meet current and future needs for these customers and
their communities. These vital employees also help enable the
connection of more renewables and added protection from
cybersecurity and physical threats.
Duke Energy continues to hire lineworker talent and works
closely with community colleges across its company footprint to
recruit diverse, skilled candidates. Individuals interested in
a lineworking career with Duke Energy should contact community
colleges directly for more information on their
specific lineworker training programs including available funding
for tuition.
Duke Energy Florida
Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 10,500
megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 1.9 million
residential, commercial and industrial customers across a
13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in
Charlotte, N.C., is one of
America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities
serve 8.2 million customers in North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000
megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6
million customers in North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 27,600
people.
Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition
to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural
gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity
generation by 2050. The company has interim carbon emission targets
of at least 50% reduction from electric generation by 2030, 50% for
Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 upstream and downstream emissions by
2035, and 80% from electric generation by 2040. In addition, the
company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy
storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies
such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.
Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2023 "World's Most Admired
Companies" list and Forbes' "World's Best Employers" list. More
information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke
Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos
and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories
about people, innovations, community topics and environmental
issues. Follow Duke Energy
on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
Media contact: Audrey Stasko
Media line: 800.559.3853
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SOURCE Duke Energy